The Downfall Of Us All
by taylor-the-generic-opera
Summary: Seventeen year olds Phineas and Ferb have never been truly separated, not since they had become brothers at age three. Now with Phineas off to Dalton and Ferb remaining at McKinley, there's no telling how this will turn out. Mostly P&F-centered, R&R.
1. It's Complicated

_Hi, this is taylor-the-generic-opera, the author of this fic!  
>Don't ask where this came from. I blame ADTR on my iPod for all and any ideas.<br>I own nothing._

**Title: **The Downfall of Us All**  
>Author: <strong>taylor-the-generic-opera**  
>Written: <strong>4/10/11  
><strong>Categoryies: **Phineas and Ferb, Glee  
><strong>Description:<strong> Seventeen year olds Phineas and Ferb have never been truly separated, not since they had become brothers at age three. Now with Phineas off to Dalton and Ferb remaining at McKinley, there's no telling how this will turn out.

_**Chapter One – It's Complicated**_

They had been close from the start. No, that was a lie. They had been brothers from the start. Ever since they were three, that's what they had been. They were rarely – if ever – seen without the other. Attached at the hip from the beginning, they were a team, forever and always.

Now, as they sat under that tree in the backyard, it finally dawned on them that it was all about to change. Come tomorrow, one would stay at McKinley High, and the other would transfer to Dalton Academy. The amazing team of Phineas and Ferb would be broken.

The shorter one had been packing all week. It would be a lengthy trip, much too long for him to come home every weekend. They both knew it, but no one bothered to say it out loud. It would be to strange, as if the finalization was too soon.

Ferb had stared at the new uniform as if it were an old gym sock. The dark blue blazer with the red 'D' logo patch, the white undershirt, the matching striped tie. It was such a contrast to the orange and white stripes he was so used to seeing his brother wear. It was too formal for what he considered his brother's taste.

Phineas let out a sudden sigh, interrupting the silence that they had created. The red-head looked over, his blue eyes wide. Even with the obvious on both of their minds, he still managed at least half of his normal 1000-watt smile. Ferb was almost in tears when his brother spoke the words that had made their childhood so legendary.

"So, Ferb, what do you wanna do today?"

Back when they were nine, ten, and even eleven, their summers had been filled with outrageous projects. They had defied all logic and done the most impossible things.

Now they were sixteen, and the simple words hadn't been spoken since the morning of their last project.

Ferb glanced up at the fence gate, half expecting Isabella to come through the gate, a smile on her face, and speak her old line. The voice was hauntingly fresh, and he could just hear the perfect tone she had inflicted upon the words. _Her _words. _"Whatcha doin'?"_ But no. She had stopped that five years ago.

Looking to his black Converse, he shrugged without a word. That much hadn't changed; He still spoke on rare occasions only. He had grown with age, of course, and his style had changed. But he would only talk if he saw the need. He felt as if were the only link to his innocent childhood he would ever have. Phineas let out another sigh, though this one was stressed.

"Look…" he started, sitting up and resting his hands in his lap. "I know you're not excited about… tomorrow… but-" He was cut off by an angry glare from the taller of the two. The green-haired boy didn't want to talk about it, not one bit.

"Ferb, we need to talk about this. I know you're upset and don't want it to happen. I am too, trust me." Phineas rubbed his temples, trying to push down the coming headache.

They hardly spoke the rest of that day. Dinner was painfully silent. Their mother wanted to say something, but Candance – who was home from college to see Phineas off that week – wordlessly made her brush it off. This was Phineas and Ferb. They'd be fine.

The two fell asleep without saying a word.


	2. Have Faith In Me

_Hi, this is taylor-the-generic-opera, the author of this fanfic!  
>Sorry for the unannounced hiatus with all my stories. I got distracted by life and then I remembered that people actually read what I wrote. So when I came back I was trying to figure out how to write these again. But I hope that it was worth the wait!<br>Thanks for reading!_

**Title**: The Downfall Of Us All  
><strong>Author<strong>: taylor-the-generic-opera  
><strong>Date Written<strong>: 10/15/11  
><strong>Categoryies**: Phineas and Ferb, Glee  
><strong>Description<strong>: Seventeen year olds Phineas and Ferb have never been truly separated, not since they had become brothers at age three. Now with Phineas off to Dalton and Ferb remaining at McKinley, there's no telling how this will turn out.

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><p><strong>Chapter Two – Have Faith In Me<strong>

Phineas awoke at daybreak, something he hadn't done in quite a long time.

Seeing as how he was used to sleeping in now, he grumbled as the vibrating alarm on his phone went off, and he squinted against the blinding LCD light that greeted his tired blue eyes. He shut it off and pushed back the covers, carefully out of habit so he wouldn't wake Perry. However, as he did, he noticed that the egg-laying mammal wasn't on his bed. Frowning, he listened to a soft chatter that came from Ferb's bed. He felt even more alone than ever; now his own pet platypus was turning against him for leaving them all behind. A pang of guilt tugged at his stomach before Phineas shook it away. No, this was a great opportunity for him. He just couldn't throw all of that away!

He stood and made his way down the stairs, stumbling and bumping into the walls a few times. The red-haired boy found himself in the kitchen, and he quickly decided that he was hungry for cereal. He tiredly grabbed a bowl as well as the half-empty box of Fruity Pebbles from a cabinet over the counter. He poured himself some breakfast before pouring some milk into the bowl and grabbing a spoon. He stood at the counter while he ate, tugging at his slightly-too-large black AC/DC shirt. The hem barely came to the top of his orange-and-white striped boxers. Phineas ate quickly after he realized what time it was; he was going to be late!

The teen bolted up the stairs, closing the bathroom door behind him. He had laid out his uniform last night. The navy blazer with bright red trim, the fancy "D" logo embroidered on the breast pocket, the matching tie. It seemed strange, dressing up so much instead of his normal orange-and-white striped hoodie and dark jeans with black Converse.

Humming to himself, Phineas pulled on his pants and stripped out of his shirt. He pulled the uniform off of the hanger and began changing into the outfit, not bothering to look in the mirror. It would be too different, and he would have a breakdown; a breakdown that he couldn't afford right now. It would just set him behind even more than he already was.

It took him a moment to button up the new white undershirt he would wear as part of his uniform. He wasn't used to buttons on shirts, really. He wore them every so often, like when his family went out to dinner at a fancier restaurant. Normally, though, he just preferred a tee shirt and jeans.

_Not anymore_, a voice rang in his head as he looked at himself in the mirror. The tie was slackened under his collar, the longer end just passing the bottom of his white dress shirt. With a slight frown, he trudged on the Dalton coat, buttoning it at the bottom as it had been explained to him. He gave somewhat of what could have been considered a regretful sigh as he reached up, tightening the red-and-navy striped neck ornament at a pace that was painfully slow.

Standing back, Phineas looked himself over once more. His shoes were shined and his hair had been combed back, as suggested by his mother. He personally, didn't enjoy the look of his normally messy red hair being slicked back against his head. It didn't look normal.

He didn't look like himself.

At least he was still wearing stripes. That was a good thing, right?

Besides, he wasn't about to turn this opportunity down. He was going to Dalton Academy – it was expensive, sure, but his parents had suggested it in the first place. Not only were the classes supposedly above Honors level, they happened to have a fantastic singing group as well. He sort of hated to admit it, but New Directions just didn't have as much of the feel he needed anymore. Besides, this was Dalton Academy. It was a boarding school that would help his future even more than McKinley ever could.

The only downside to the almost-perfect plan was the amount of distance he would be away from his brother.

Phineas came back to reality as he realized he was still staring at his reflection. Frowning once more, he walked out of the bathroom, glancing at the door of the bedroom he still shared with Ferb before something caught his eye. There was only one sign hanging there now, each word its own font, size, color, and on its own sheet of paper.

**Phineas and Ferb's room.**

Really, it was still a bit childish of a sign for two seventeen-year-old boys to have hanging up, but they still had it after all these years. A little smile twitched at the corner of his lips, before his stomach was filled with guilt once more. Reaching up, he ripped off two pieces of paper, staring at the door again. It looked even more empty, but he figured it was about right now.

**Ferb's room.**

Swallowing a lump that was forming in his throat, Phineas quickly turned away and headed down the stairs. He grabbed his bag from the kitchen table and walked out the door, pulling his keys out and hopping in his car. It was already full from all of his stuff, but then again, he had a '68 Dodge Charger. The black vehicle wasn't supposed to hold so much stuff. He loved his car, he really did. Rhonda was older than he was and she ran perfectly fine. The only thing he had changed was the stereo; it was now up-to-date and could play tapes as well as CDs. When he stuck his key into the ignition and turned it on, he heard the engine purr, and expected for the stereo system to start blaring some old school rock and roll that he loved.

"_Phineas._"

Isabella's sweet voice greeted him instead, and he had to look around him to make sure she wasn't actually there. The tone of the engine seemed to die down as he stared at the wheel, allowing the girl's voice to continue playing.

"_I know we haven't spoken in quite some time. I guess it's sort of my fault; I'm the one who went off and became a Cheerio. Coach Sylvester told us all to stay away from you. The fact that you were also in Glee Club made you… off-limits, I supposed._" Phineas wasn't worried about anything at the moment as he closed his eyes, allowing the only thing he knew to be her voice.

"_But now you're leaving, off to that fancy school… Basically, I'm going to miss you. Well, we __**all**__ will, actually._" He paused. _We all?_ Who exactly was _we all_? And that's when the rest of the voices floated through the speakers.

Separate chants of "_Bye Phineas!_" and "_Good luck!_" rang out to him. He recognized them all; Buford, Baljeet, Gretchen, Milly, Katie… he even heard Django. That alone made him smile; he had thought they were all going to let him go without so much as a goodbye.

"_I know that you think I may hate you for leaving, but I don't._" Phineas froze as he instantly recognized Ferb's seldom-heard voice after a brief moment of complete silence on the tape. "_I… I just don't know what I'm going to do now that you're gone…_" Ferb took a long breath. "_I'm talking as if you're dead. You're not, you're just moving to a new school. All the same, I've never been very good with goodbyes._" There was a pause. "_But just know that I'm not mad at you, Phineas. You're my brother, and I could never hate you. In fact, it's quite the opposite."_

"_Just hold tight to those summer memories that I bet you still love. Because I do. I'll never be able to let go of them. But that doesn't mean I'm telling you to live in the past. Heavens no._" Ferb's voice was starting to grow softer, and Phineas was now shaking as he started to whimper, his breathing growing heavier. "_Please, just remember one thing, at least. Carpe diem. Remember when we learned it? Seize the day, Phienas… We lived by it when we were younger. Why not start again?_" There was another noticeable pause that took almost ten seconds. Phineas thought it was over at first, until one more sentence was spoken; it was obvious that Ferb had begun to cry at this point while recording the tape.

"_So, Phineas, what are we going to do today?_" And then it just… ended. He was still shaking, his knuckles tight from gripping the wheel so tightly. Tears were streaming down the redhead's face as he whimpered. Ferb _never_ talked that much, so this tape was something special to him. All of his friends, his true friends, had given him the best goodbye present he had ever received. Turning off the ignition, he sat there, allowing himself to have a breakdown. He had never cried this much in his entire life, even after his father left when he was two.

It took Phineas quite awhile for his breakdown to end before he was able to actually pull out of the driveway and start the long trip to the school he would, in just a few hours, call home.

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><p><em>Thanks again for (hopefully) being patient, everyone! I promise that I'll start trying to write again.<em>


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